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So exhausted last night. And aggravated. Got stuck in a major traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike that was so bad I finally said fuck this, made an illegal u-turn, backtracked and got off the turnpike, and drove through side streets in Newark and Jersey City until I finally got home 3½ hours after I had left my starting point. By that time I had to pee so badly I was actually in pain, and I was cursing as I parked the car because I knew that at any minute I was going to wet my pants, and then of course, the straps on one of my bags broke and the contents went spilling all over the street, so by the time I actually got into my apartment building’s elevator I knew it was a lost cause, despite the Kegel’s, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, I wet my pants.

Thanks to Neil for answering so many of your questions. He’s signing off:

263 Questions, and I managed as many as I could in the time we had, and stole more time from the next thing. They are now about to pry the computer from my fingers and send me back on the road.

Thank you to everyone who asked the questions. They were all so good. Thanks to the Guardian for hosting this.

1.21pm GMT

John O’Donnell asks:

Do you believe that good can triumph over evil? Situation being what it is.

I don't think of good and evil as being distinct free-floating things. I think there are people, doing what people do, sometimes selfishly, sometimes short-sightedly, sometimes even monstrously. (For me, one

Neil Gaiman fans are committed to supporting his work, but even they may have trouble with “Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously,” the limp new documentary by Patrick Meaney currently available on Vimeo on Demand. How a feature on one of our greatest living fantasy authors could be so mundane is a mystery. Whether it’s because Meaney lacks his subject’s sweeping imagination, or Gaiman’s introverted nature was simply too difficult to surmount, “Dream Dangerously” comes up short.

You couldn’t find a more fascinating pop culture figure to receive this treatment: Gaiman is a British novelist best known for the comic book series “The Sandman,” a groundbreaking fantasy comic about the world of dreams, which is generally believed to have ushered in the genre of contemporary dark fantasy. After his breakout years in the eighties, Gaiman successfully transitioned from comics to novels with hits like “Stardust,” “American Gods,” “Coraline,

Neil Gaiman's night had been going according to plan. The world-famous comics and fantasy author had just finished a lengthy, somber, occasionally wry onstage conversation about his new graphic novel, Sandman: Overture. He and interviewer Junot Díaz had spoken eloquently about all the work Gaiman's done on the Sandman comics series over the past 26 years, the passion he's put into novels like American Gods and Coraline, and the ways fatherhood has made him a better writer. The crowd at Brooklyn's Congregation Beth Elohim was eating it up. But just as the evening seemed to be drawing to a close, an emcee reminded Gaiman that he was just hours away from his 55th birthday. That's when his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, surprised everyone by taking to the stage and treating him to a vigorous serenade of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" (get it?) and "Happy Birthday" on ukulele and kazoo. (The Díaz

Potent creativity often comes in small concentrated doses and when you collect a couple dozen of these morsels, powerfully laced with astute ingenuity, you get an overwhelmingly delightful sample platter with some of the most diverse flavors out there unified by their topnotch quality. That’s the best way to describe what you get when watching the visual and tonal tapestry of the Animation Show of Shows. Now in its 17th edition, this program created originally to be screened at Hollywood studios with the purpose of highlighting the best artists working in the independent animation landscape and curated by Ron Diamond, Executive Producer of Acme Filmworks, Inc. and co-founder and President of Animation World Network, will come to theaters across the U.S. for the first time to allow audience to partake in the fun and discovery.

Constructed of 11 fantastic animated shorts showcasing a wide range of techniques within the medium’s spectrum, plus four documentary portraits on selected filmmakers, this feature-length festival of wonder overflows with sublime craftsmanship, but it’s also one of the most profound cinematic experiences of the year. The level of introspection and insight on the human condition contained in these colorful gems surpasses that of most films, animated or live-action, released in recent memory. What they might lack in running time individually, they make up in poignant observations and moments that will stir up a genuine smile.

The program kicks off with “The Story of Percival Pilts,” a stop-motion tale narrated in rhyme about a boy who became fascinated with stilts and declared his feet will never touch the ground ever again. Living his life on stilts, which get increasingly taller as he gets older, Percival cherishes the views and tranquility that such great heights offer. Marvelously achieved and organically suited for the physicality of the chosen technique, this film from Aussie John Lewis and Kiwi Janette Goodey, touches on familiar perils of those who live outside the norm with a classically inspired story told from the protagonist’s brother’s perspective. Tiny sheets of paper stand in as leaves on tress, detailed period costumes adorn the petite bodies of the numerous figures, and cheeky phrases move the plot along while a sky painted in pink and purple hues drench it all with a perpetual “magic hour” feel.

Percival” is followed by a tiny 3D animated work titled “Tant de Forets” (So Many Forests) from French/Turkish team Geoffrey Godet and Burcu Sankur, which uses basic shapes and aesthetics borrowed from the world of graphic design to bring to life a poem by Jacques Prévert on the horrific deforestation of the planet to satisfy our voracious needs for paper.

Evocative and delicately paced, Conor Whelan’s “Snowfall” is the first Lgbt animated short to be part of the Animation Show of Shows, and though it’s clear about its lead character’s sexual orientation, the film is much more focused on depicting how we experience anxiety and deal with rejection in a truly cinematic manner. On a snowy night in Amsterdam a young man arrives at a party where he casually meets a friendly guy. They seem to hit it off, but it soon becomes clear that their interest in one another comes from very different angles. Centered on this romantic misconnection, “Snowfall” is a tender and seemingly melancholic 2D animated meditation where emotions take on a beautiful ethereal form.

Claypainting takes center stage with Lynn Tomlinson’s exquisite “The Ballad of Holland Island House.” Driven by a folksy tune this house reflects on its lifespan from the time it was just wood without purpose, to becoming a family’s home, and eventually being abandoned and consumed by the rising Atlantic Ocean. Tomlinson’s mastery of the stunning technique that blends the tangible material to create rustic moving frames resembles the work of veteran artist Joan C. Gratz – the Academy Award-winning claypainting pioneer.

In Amanda Palmer and Avi Ofer’s “Behind the Trees” scratchy hand-drawn dream sequences turn a voice memo into a brief but deliciously cheeky trip into the subconscious of a man who mumbles abstract statements while asleep. Each incoherent, revealing, honest, or perhaps utterly irrelevant line is transformed into an unconventional artistic interpretation via the imperfectly sleek doodles.

Playfully realized with the charm of a Saturday morning cartoon, yet layered with bittersweet notions about friendship, grief, and solitude, Academy Award-nominated Russian animator Konstantin Bronzit’s latest film “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is a bite-size animated masterpiece that is as profoundly moving as it’s enchantingly entertaining. On a mission to become the top cosmonauts in their class and earn the privilege to go into space as a team, two lifelong friends work tirelessly everyday using their common dream as fuel to endure the challenging tasks. Their bond, an idealized iteration of fraternal companionship that we could all aspire to, clearly emerges as a more significant and precious motivation than the outer space voyage itself. With clever visual gags, endearing character design reminiscent of bygone artistry, and inventive sharp editing, Bronzit’s virtuous storytelling abilities amuse and tug at our heartstrings till the very last shot. “We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is one of the best films of the year of any length and in any medium.

A hungry cat and a helpless goldfish set an unlikely love story in motion in Isabel Favez curious short “Messages Dans L’Air.” Uniquely designed with an elegantly simple style, Favez world is entirely made out of paper and she uses this particular trait as a perfect narrative device for the film’s scope. Written on a folded paper bird, a lovely message makes its way to a young woman while her mischievous feline constantly attempts to devour a tiny fish that belongs to a bulky boxer who lives near by. Such problematic relationship between their pets will be the catalyst for the mismatch lovebirds to connect.

Passionate admirers of Walt Disney’s classic films, Iranian brothers Babak & Behnoud Nekooei crafted a remarkable 2D animated piece in which their influences are unmistakable but not without reinvention. “Stripy” centers on an enthusiastic factory worker in a city where homogeneity is paramount. His job is simply to paint dark stripes on every box that comes through the assembly line; however, the spirited young man decides that a more vibrant pattern would make the repetitive labor more interesting. Individuality and the power that comes from refusing to conform are crucial themes weaved into the Nekooei brothers’ melodically structured short. Without explicitly touching on their country’s politics, the filmmakers created a subtly rebellious work of art that transcends divisive discourses and ideologies.

Landscapes so realistically rendered that could nearly fool you into thinking they were indeed extracted from our world are one of the extraordinary elements in 3D animated adventure “Ascension,” by a French team of artist form by Colin Laubry, Thomas Bourdis, Martin de Coutenhove, Caroline Domergue, and Florian Vecchione. Two bold mountain climbers are on their way to the top carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary when one of them suffers an accident that leaves her without functional limbs. Devotion and their relentless desire to succeed a will keep them focused on their almost impossible mission. The astonishing backgrounds alone are spectacular enough to merit significant recognition.

Darkly comedic and brutally honest, “Love in Times of March Madness” is a black-and-white animated personal essay by Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano, which dissects Johnson’s mishaps and realizations as she navigates life as a 6’4” tall woman. Among the many quotidian complications she must face, dating is by far one of the thorniest facets of Johnson’s above average existence. Insecure shorter men and the judging stares from a world that equates physical differences with unforgivable inadequacies are part of the tricky deck she’s been given. By sharing hilarious anecdotes and analyzing why other people reflect their fears on her appearance, Johnson gives us a lesson in acceptance with the help of vividly surreal vignettes that illustrate her unique perspective.

Capping off this outstanding selection of small-scale treasures is Don Hertzfeldt's thought-provoking and visionary Sundance-winning short "World of Tomorrow." Easily the best animated film of the year, this 17-minute science fiction journey is a mind-bending study on the essence of humanity and how technology’s ferocious advances to know and control it all endanger our ability to notice what’s truly meaningful. Employing his signature stick figures, the filmmaker introduces us to Emily Prime (Winona Mae), a young girl who has just met an older, cloned version of herself living far into the future. Emily (Julia Pott), as the film simply refers to the adult replica, has come from her time to meet Emily Prime and inform her about the terrifying dangers of what lies ahead. Loneliness reigns and falling in love is a futile enterprise in a future where wealthy individuals get to live forever by virtually saving their consciousness into data cubes. Life as we know it is no more and people, always longing for fulfillment, have adapted to the hopelessness of their condition. Miraculously, Hertzfeldt packs all of these components within his intricate and engrossing vision into a plot that includes lighter moments of intelligent comedy. Besides the thematic brilliance of the concepts and ideas discussed in “World of Tomorrow,” the film is also testament to Hertzfeld’s admiration and loyalty to the film medium in its most authentic state, while at the same time being unafraid to experiment. Handcrafted on one of the last remaining functioning 35mm rostrum animation stands, the film exists as a bridge between what some consider to be obsolete and the boundless freedom of independent animation in the 21st century. Furthermore, all the amazing special effects were created directly on film, using traditional double exposures, in-camera mattes, and new experimental techniques to transport the avid viewer into a land of intoxicating color, frightening warnings, and inconspicuous wisdom.

In every fragment used to the build “The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows” audiences will find a heartfelt antidote to formulaic tent poles and will most likely see some of the films that will make headlines as Oscar contenders and nominees in the upcoming months. Undoubtedly, the individual quality of each work is stellar, but the emotional gravitas of the program as a whole is absolutely disarming.

For the past 16 years, Ron Diamond and the Animation Show Of Shows have featured dozens of incredible works of animation. On Thursday, September 24th, the 17th annual Animation Show Of Shows will open at the Arclight in Hollywood, with these eleven new films:

A whimsical story about living an impractical life based on a childhood promise. While playing on stilts as a child, Percival Pilts declares that he’ll ‘never again let his feet touch the ground!’ He stays true to his word and compelled ever higher, he builds his stilts so tall that he no longer fits into normal society.

Amanda Palmer is many things, including a musician, a performance artist, an avid Tweeter, a controversial internet personality, the wife of writer Neil Gaiman and the mother of his as-yet unborn child. Amanda is known, among other things, for her melodic social commentary, wacky personal style, and creative, not to mention controversial, lyrics. Her songs tackle themes ranging from broken hearts and family life to more taboo topics of date rape and abortions. Her previous bands have included the two-piece punk-rock cabaret act the Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn, a musical act centred around a fictional pair of conjoined twins.

Over the course of her career, Amanda has done her best to tear down the old order of music publishing. She publicly fell out with her original record label and struck out on her own as an independent artist. Since then, she has begun releasing her music online for nothing,

With the FCC poised to vote on Thursday on chairman Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal, musical acts including R.E.M., Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Perry and Jeff and Spencer Tweedy are vowing to defend the new rules of the road for the Internet.

In a letter sent to Wheeler, dozens of musicians wrote in their letter that “there is a public interest imperative in preserving an open Internet, and the creative sector is a huge part of this interest.”

“We know that you will face political opposition and coordinated attacks from well-funded corporations,” they wrote. “But isn’t it cooler to have us on your side than some giant ISP? We think so. And we’ll step up to defend your plan because we know it’s the right call, and we know you understand the importance of making it.”

Screenings of Robin Williams’ film Dead Poets Society, organised by Secret Cinema after his sudden death on Aug 11, has raised more than £24,000 ($40,000) for mental health charities Mind in the UK and Nami in the Us.

The charity screenings were held across the UK, Prague and New York on Aug 15/16 with all profits going to Mind and Nami.

Live poetry was recited including a reading by Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright, live music, performance, special guests and supportive tweets from Stephen Fry, Ross Noble and Penguin Books.

Donations are still being received via Text Cinema to 70660 to donate £3 to @MindCharity #SeizeTheDay. People can also donate online here until November 2014.

Amanda Palmer, formerly of The Dresden Dolls in New York, said: “Watching an entire audience weep in unison as those kids stood on their desks in solidarity for their teacher who taught them to

The Sequart Research & Literacy Organisation and Respect! Films have announced a Neil Gaiman documentary.

It will follow on from Sequart's Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods and Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts.

The film has been described as "an all-access look at the scribe's illustrious, media-spanning career, from his first foray into published writing all the way up to the current signing tour for his new novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane".

It will feature interviews with the writer's contemporaries, as well as footage from Gaiman's readings and performances with his wife Amanda Palmer.

Gaiman recently revealed details of the questionable scripts for unmade films based on his Sandman and Books of Magic titles.

The Gaiman documentary will arrive in 2015. Watch a teaser trailer for the film below:

Not since Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park has the an amusement park been made the center of a thriller so perfectly. The return (and re-threatening) of a classic villain, a heck of a guest cast and a script by Neil Gaiman. Seems like a dream, but mix it all together and it’s a…

After last week’s last-minute extortion, Clara’s charges Angie and Artie are granted a trip on the Tardis to Hedgewick’s World, the greatest amusement park ever. But hidden beneath it is a dangerous secret – A vast sleeping army of Cybermen, under repair and improvement for a thousand years…and they are ready to return.

Taylor Lautner says that one thing he won't miss about making the Twilight movies is taking off his shirt, which seems a pity, since it's his top talent. "One, when we film these movies in like horrendous weather conditions and in the books it's always suppose to be cold and gloomy and the sun can never be out so that's not fun. And then the second thing is, I'm always the only person with my shirt off, so...I wish just everybody could, you know, do it once and then you know, it would make me feel more comfortable."

One of The Ali Forney Center's drop in locations for Glbt youth was made unusable by Hurricane Sandy, displacing the center and all the youth that receive services there. Please help if you can, they do such amazing work.

Buzzfeed has a great collection of photographs from the Million Muppet March in Washington,

Did you honestly expect that a bisexual, performance artist, serial Tweeter and former Dresden Doll, who is also the wife of fantastic gothic writer Neil Gaiman, could produce an album that is anything other than absurd?

Of course not. I hope. But just because the album is absurd, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Far from it. Theatre of Evil is a great, definitely-not-Dresden-Dolls-esque romp that shows that Amanda Palmer (and the Grand Theft Orchestra) can produce music from absolutely nothing.

The album started from a desperate plea by Palmer herself, Tweeting that she’s creating a Kickstarter project to help fund her new album. Asking for only a few thousand dollars, news spread fast and became the seventh project to break $1 million, making it the highest funded music-based Kickstarter is history.

Celebrities using Kickstarter to raise money for a venture is nothing new. "Napoleon Dynamite" star Jon Heder, author Neil Gaiman and musician Amanda Palmer have all done it. But when Academy Award-winner Whoopi Goldberg launched her own crowdfunding campaign yesterday to help fund her directorial debut "I Got Somethin' To Tell You," you can bet more than a few folks' eyebrows were raised. Goldberg is hoping to make her Kickstarter goal of $65,000 to finish producing her documentary on one of her role models, legendary stand-up comedian Moms Mabley (born Loretta Mary Aiken), who rose to national recognition in the 1960s. Mabley, who passed away at the age of 81 in 1975, has over 20 comedy records to her name and performed everywhere from Harlem's Apollo Theater to Carnegie Hall. As Goldberg says in her Kickstarter pitch, "Moms was the first and without her there probably would not have been a Totie, a Joan,

A group of some well-known industry actors, filmmakers, musicians and authors, including Trent Reznor, Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Andy Samberg's rap group The Lonely Island, Ok Go and Aziz Ansari, posted an open letter opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and Protect IP Act (Pipa). In the letter, posted to anti-pipa site Stop The Wall on Wed. Jan 17, denounced the acts the acts, calling them damaging and accused both of imfringing on creativity and innovation. "Online piracy is harmful and it needs to be addressed, but not at the expense of censoring creativity, stifling innovation or

If you're like me, you spent the summer of 1992 reading the Vertigo comic book series "Sandman" and went to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" every Saturday night because you were 17 and yelling things at a campy classic seemed like a good use of your free time.

Even if you didn't, you're going to have to admit that the following video is awesome.

Earlier this week, as a Halloween treat to his audience, host Craig Ferguson featured the eclectic ensemble of Amanda Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls), electronic music mainstay Moby, Stephen Merrit (of The Magnetic Fileds) and Neil Gaiman (novelist, award-winning comic book author, and Mr. Amanda Palmer) on "The Late Late Show" to perform "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from "Rocky Horror" soundtrack. And what a treat it is.

From Palmer's overstated make-up evoking the screen-filling lips that have greeted "Rocky Horror" audiences for 36 years, to the eerily sweet enthusiasm

I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't think that Kelly Osbourne is anti-transgender. She's been hugely supportive of the Glbt community. I do think her ranting on about her ex-fiance cheating on her with a "chick with a dick" is horribly insensitive and that she knows better, and should say she knows better and apologize.

Jp Marzulla is the vice chair of Area 3 of the Republican Party in New Hampshire. He believes in three things: God, liberty, and his gay son. Now if he can just convince enough of his Granite Staters to think like him.

This may be one of the more useful responses to the "quit flaunting your lifestyle" arguments that entitled heterosexuals like to bring up all the time. I may keep a copy in my wallet to hand out.

Eddie Redmayne has joined the ever-growing cast of Les Miserables as Marius.

Neil Gaiman's award-winning novel "American Gods" first hit shelves back in 2001, sweeping up readers in a cross-country adventure that explored a world in which the gods of old struggled to remain relevant in modern American culture. Ten years later, "American Gods" is returning to shelves in a new form, celebrating its anniversary with an expanded, "author's preferred text" edition and the announcement of an upcoming television series based on the book.

"The truth is, as an author, all you are is grateful if you turn around 10 years after you wrote something and it's still in print," Gaiman told MTV News of all the fanfare surrounding the novel's 10th anniversary. "It makes me ridiculously happy as an author, but mostly it makes me

Hearing Ok Go, Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman in the same sentence has our minds scrambling to mentally prepare for just how epic the music created will be. After a considerable amount of contemplation, we finally feel like we are ready to hear the news in its entirety. Sorry, you had to wait it out for a bit. Damian Kulash of Ok Go will join his friends Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman and Ben Folds at the Rethink Music conference in Boston to write and record eight songs in eight hours then conclude the process with a concert. Fans can check out the video, which is imploding with artistic...

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